Call of the White Lion
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: The five Lions of Voltron... they combine to become the Defender of the Universe. But is there more to their story than meets the eye?


Voltron: Call Of The White Lion

Voltron blasted across the sky, Galra fighters and cruisers surrounded them. Four fleets, then five, then six!

"There's more Galra ships coming our way, pretty soon we won't stand a chance. We need to get out of here, Keith!" Pidge called from her lion, zooming in on some more Galra cruisers.

"No! We've got to keep going, just hang on!" Keith responded.

Shiro watched from the castle, his fists clenched in frustration, longing to be out there to help. His brow furrowed at the movements on the holomap. Voltron recurved another blast by the fighters, and spins out.

"Pidge is right. Keith, we _must_ disband and escape before we are totally surrounded!" Allura agreed.

"Well whatever we're going to do, we better do it quick! Cause we can't keep taking hits like that!" Hunk reminded them. Time seemed to stand still for Keith, the voices of the others seemed distant from him. His heart pounded in his chest. His thoughts racing, and his fear rising. His body tensed and he gripped the handles tightly, frozen in place.

"Keith? Keith!" Shouted Lance after taking another hard hit. "Come on man, snap out of it?!" Keith was finally jolted back into reality, as a Galra cruiser started to shoot the ion cannon directly at them. And without further hesitation, Keith went on the defensive. Dodging the blast, he called for the sword, and used it to slice through the cruisers one by one.

"That's it Keith, stay in the game," mumbled Shiro to himself. His pride beginning to rise a little.

"Hunk, form shoulder cannon!" Keith called.

"On the way!" Several fighters and cruisers were blown to pieces by the shoulder cannon.

Suddenly another cruiser showed up.

"Uh, what is that?" Hunk asked nervously.

"It looks like some kind of new Galra weapon," Pidge replied inquisitively.

"Whatever it is, I don't think we want to find out what it can do." Allura remarked suspiciously.

"Allura's right, come back to the ship and let's get out of here," Shiro agreed. So Voltron started back towards the Castle when the weapon lit up behind them.

"What the cheese?" Lance wondered, glancing back due to hearing a strange noise.

"Voltron, get out of there!" Cried Coran. Voltron turned around to see the weapons powerful blast coming towards them.

"Pidge! Shield!" Keith shouted. The shield went up just in time to block the blast.

"It's-.. too much power! The shield can't take it!" Pidge exclaimed. The shield disengaged and floated away, and the rest of the blast hit Voltron blowing them apart. Now back to lions, they recovered themselves. Electrical flickers of electrical waves fluctuating on their bodies.

"Team! Is everyone ok?" Shiro pulled up on the Black lion's screen.

"We're good." Keith replied breathlessly.

"Oh... That was _NOT_ fun." Hunk groaned, recovering his lion.

"Those blasts are more powerful than anything the Galra have ever had before. They must have found a new kind of substance or a better way to use quintessence to create such powerful technology" Pidge hypothesized. "Maybe a super quintessence or something."

"Allura, are you alright?" Shiro called, no answer, "Allura! Can you hear me?! Allura! Guys, Allura's down, somebody get to her and bring her back to the Castle!"

"I'm on it!" Lance responded, jetting over and grabbing the Blue Lion; carrying it back to the Castle. They all had to dodge the Galra blasts, but were able to wormhole away.

XXXX

Back on Olkarion, Lance set the Blue Lion on the ground with the others running towards it. Lance and the others stared for a moment, before entering the lion. They gasped in surprise by what they saw…. _nothing?!_

"She's... gone?" Lance breathed. Keith, who had rested his arm on the back of the chair, clenched his fist and turned to walk out of the lion. He brushed past Shiro on the way out; and former Black Lion Pilot stood there to watch after him for a brief moment before following.

"Keith, you can't blame yourself. You-" Shiro began slowly.

"Yes, I can!" Keith snapped, turning around abruptly. Shiro withdrew in surprise, he hadn't seen this side of Keith for a long time; and frankly didn't think he ever would again.

"Wha… ah- Keith! I-.. I don't understand…" He trailed off; completely blindsided by this sudden ambush of emotion from the Red Paladin. "Ever since I escaped from the Galra you've been so.. distant. What is going on?"

"It's, nothing ok I'm fine!" Keith replied firmly, turning a shoulder to him.

"I'm so sure about that." Shiro returned simply. "Keith you're the leader now. You need to be open and honest with those you lead. Maybe they can help."

"Well what if I don't _want_ to be the leader anymore?!" Keith thundered, his emotions bubbling up; threatening to break him.

"A-.. What? Not be the leader anymore?" Shiro seemed surprised by this as well, despite the clear-as-day look in the younger man's eyes.

"I don't even know why you wanted me to be the leader in the first place." Keith continued, dropping his gaze away from him. "I'm no good at it."

Shiro tried to begin a reply, but Keith cut him off. "Don't say that you know what I'm capable of, because I'm not! I'm not capable of being a leader! Shiro, you were wrong about me! I'm not the leader you thought I was. I'm not you! I will never be you, I can't lead them like you."

"Woah, woah, woah Keith, I didn't want you to be me." Shiro emphasized quickly. "I never wanted to give you the idea that you had to lead them like me. You're you and you can be a leader. I know it. You don't have to lead them like me, because you're _NOT_ me. You're a different person, and I want you to lead your own way. Everyone must carve out their own destiny; my absence was just an unforeseeable factor in that. And so was the battle today."

"Well I'm not a leader. I'm the loner, that's what they've _always_ said. And they're right. I'm not cut out for this. Allura said that the Black lion should have a pilot that is the decisive head of Voltron, Someone who is in control at all times. That's not me, Shiro. That's you." He paused, heaving a huge sigh to try and calm himself down again. "When you disappeared and I took over, everything fell apart, we couldn't form Voltron for a long time, and once we did. Well.. we did ok, but I had to make, all the calls."

"Looks like you did alright." Shiro commented, indicting a point.

"But I made a ton of mistakes." Keith returned coldly. "Some that almost got someone killed or the lions taken by Zarkon or our allies in danger!"

"Keith, we all make mistakes, myself included. But it's all about how we handle it. As leaders we-"

"I can't _BE_ a leader!!" Keith thundered, cutting him off harshly. "Because of me being the leader, I almost destroyed, _EVERYTHING_ that you started! And if I had screwed it up, you would've come back to a broken team. And Zarkon would probably have one or _all_ of the Lions because of me... Allura's missing.. because of me!" Then Keith stormed away. Leaving Shiro still spellbound, and completely speechless. The rest of the Paladins came up beside him.

"Shiro, are you ok?" Pidge sounded concerned, as she put a hand to his back.

"What was _that_ all about?" Lance added, raising an eyebrow, as he peered around Pidge to watch Keith still walking away.

"I'm not sure," Shiro responded with a sigh. "But things have really changed while I was gone."

"Humph, you don't know the half of it." Hunk commented, and they all stared after Keith.

XXXX

Allura awoke to a ringing in her ears, darkness had her completely enclosed indicating she was in a room; possibly alone. Peering around, she got to her feet and grabbed her bayard; using a light on her suit to searched the dark abyss of a room.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She called into the darkness; but all that returned was the echo of her own voice. She ran the light slowly around the room when she saw a shape she recognized. Making an approach, she ran her hand over the giant gash in the middle of the panel. And remembered the temporal rift that once existed there; and the tests and experiments that were done here.

"Wait, this control panel hasn't worked in deca-phoebs." She looked up into nothingness. "How did I get here… on Daibazaal?"

She walked toward one of the hallways when she noticed something glowing on the wall to her right. And when she went up for a closer look. The small, ovicular, lens-like shape glowed a gentle ice blue. Feeling the urge to touch it, she pressed a hand to it; and the floor split in half and a platform under her feet began lowering her down into, yet another, dark room.

"What is this place?" She asked squinting through the pitch blackness. When the platform landed she strode forward a few paces shining the light around as she went. As she turned around the circular room her gaze landed on something that made a gasp escape her lips. Before her stood what looked like a large cryopod, the massive structure towered above her. There appeared to be something really big inside it. Putting a hand to the glass, she wiped her hand across it.

"And from the looks of it,.. no one has been down here in years." She noted. Then her gaze focused through the glass to see a giant claw. Her eyes widened at this and she looked up again to get a better look; beginning recognize the shape of the mysterious object inside. All of a sudden, though, the pod automatically, as if on command, started to open and a giant cloud of dust rose. Allura shielded her face and coughed. When the dust settled, she looked up and gasped in pure awe. There sitting before her, was a white robotic lion, much like that of the Voltron lions. It had all white metal with black lines and gold plating. The lion's eyes lit up and seemed to grab hers. And then the lion began to show her something she never would have expected...

 _She saw her father working on something in the same secret hanger. The lights were on and a group of about ten or twelve atleans were scattered about the room bustling about on their work._

 _"How wonderful this will be." Alfor chuckled to himself. He turned to look at the white lion, that was only half finished behind him._

 _"When I am finished, Allura's dreams will finally come true. I just hope it's under better circumstances than what I fear is about to happen."_

 _Then she saw him again, standing there looking at something._

 _"Finally it is complete." Though his smile was short-lived. "But yet, I must seal it away for who knows how long." He began to tap at the control panel. "This war has gone on for so long already." He went on, as he continued to type. "Hopefully one day my daughter, with the help of this lion, will finally end Zarkon's tyranny. But until then..."_

 _He activated the cyropod with one final button press, and sealed the lion inside the hanger; jetting away from the destroyed planet once more…_

When it was over she stared, awestruck, up at the lion in the immense shock she felt. The lion then came down and opened its mouth to let her in. She stood there for a moment before cautiously entering. When she sat down in the cockpit and grabbed the handles, she instantly felt the connection. Hearing the lion's roar in her ears.

"I can hear you!" She breathed, a smile landing on her lips. "This is incredible!" The lion stood and let out a mighty roar, just like the Voltron lions did. The screen sprung to life and the lights in the hanger came on. Allura scanned the cockpit, it seemed slightly different to her than that of the other lions; but she was relieved to see some continuity to the Voltron lions.

"Alright then," she said, hearing the lion communicating with her again. "Let's give this a try then, shall we?" The hanger opened far down a long hallway leading to the outside, indicated by a light all the way down at the end of it. Tightening her grip on the handles slightly, she thrust them forward and the lion's thrusters engaged; propelling them down the long stretch.

Once out in the open she realized that this lion was much faster than she had anticipated. She pulled up sharply, but hit some of planet's debris. But after crashing for the third time, she was finally beginning to get the feel of things. She was just getting the hang of the controls, when a Galra battle cruiser arrived within Daibazaal's atmosphere from hyperdrive. She quickly hid behind a rock, while still being able to peer around at the cruiser.

"What are the Galra doing here?" She spat under her breath. When it touched down, she was surprised to see that Haggar, Zarkon's witch, was the only one to emerge from the ship. She quickly headed to the rift sight. Carefully, she followed Haggar. Until she stopped at the center of the room, where the rift had once been; all that was left was an empty patch of dirt. Haggar knelt down and started digging. Allura watched; waiting to see what it was that the witch was looking for. And when Haggar stood up again, she held in her clutches a giant crystal; which floated gently over her palm. It glowed a dark purplish-blue, like a regular galra crystal but had a tetragonal prism shape to it; and the glow had kind of a pulse to it. Allura had never seen anything like that before. It looked similar to a Galra crystal with a few minor differences.

"Whatever it is; we _cannot_ let it fall into Zarkon's hands." She thrust the lion forward landing hard on the ground, Haggar whipped around; startled by this and dropped the crystal. The lion scooped it up in its mouth and immediately took off again.

"You will not escape with that crystal alive!" Haggar shouted after her, and used her magic to blast her out of the sky. Allura barrel rolled to avoid getting hit, and dodged more hits and blasts from the cruiser. Soon she was out of range, but then realized that the cruiser was chasing her. It was not gaining, but, at the same time, it wasn't falling behind.

"Can't lead them to Olkarion." She breathed out loud to herself. "They'll just call for backup and attack catching them off guard. What am I going to do?" Then a strange lock and an Altean key lit up on her left side, and the lion encouraged her to turn it. When she did, the lion's handles glowed. And a wormhole appeared, and she instantly dove into it.

XXXX

The Castle of Lions was headed to Olkarion when an alarm sounded on the bridge.

"What is that?!" Lance asked, turning toward the front of the castle.

"Putting it on the screen now." Coran replied, pushing buttons on his control panel. The White Lion soon flashed up onto the screen.

"What the heck?" Lance cocked his head at the screen.

"Another lion?" Pidge asked in disbelief.

"Woah," Hunk breathed.

"What, but that's impossible?! King Alfor only created _five_ lions, he never mentioned anything about a _sixth_ one." Coran gasped.

"Then maybe it's not one of King Alfor's Lions. What if… it's _Lotor's_ Lion?" Pidge hypothesized.

"But how would Lotor even know how to build a lion?" Hunk thought aloud.

"Exactly." Coran agreed. "King Alfor never revealed the plans for the lions' construction to anyone, but the ones who were helping him build them. Which was only two or three at the most, everyone else involved never really saw the plans; they just did as they were instructed.."

"It doesn't matter how he did it let's take it down!" Lance decided, slamming his fist into his hand.

"Wait don't shoot!" A voice caught everyone off guard, when they recognized it as Allura's.

"Allura?!" Lance gasped, taken aback by this. "Is that you?!"

"Princess!" Coran exclaimed; also blindsided, but still very relieved. "You're ok!"

"Incredible." Pidge breathed.

"Wait so where were you? And where did you get that lion?" Lance questioned.

"Don't worry, all will be explained. We're almost to Olkarion. Let's set down there and I'll tell you everything." Allura answered.

Once they'd landed everyone, except Keith, came running toward the White Lion. Allura stood there in front of it and removed her helmet. When they reached her, Coran threw his arms around her in a big hug. And they hugged for what seemed to be a while.

"It's great to have you back, Princess." The royal advisor told her.

"I'm glad to _be_ back." Allura returned, sliding her hands down into his; an unmistakable smile across her face. Then everyone looked up at the White lion.

XXXX

"So as it turns out, my father kept it a secret from everyone,... including Zarkon."

"Wow, that's an amazing story Princess," Shiro commented thoughtfully, from his chair on the castle bridge.

"So let me get this straight." Lance began, gesturing with his palms facing the floor in a downward motion. "Your father, King Alfor, created a sixth lion, and told no one about it? Not even you, whom the lion was meant for?" Lance wondered.

"That's right," Allura confirmed.

"And he hid it on Daibazaal to protect it from Zarkon?" Hunk asked.

"Correct." Allura confirmed.

"Amazing," Pidge remarked thoughtfully, "King Alfor really knew how to keep a secret, I mean, he hid the White Lion in a place where no one would think to look for it."

"Exactly, because no one would even _think_ to look for it there," Allura agreed. Everyone looked up at Shiro, who was standing with his back to them.

"Shiro?" Lance addressed him after standing up, eyebrows raised. Shiro clenched a fist and turned around.

"I'm sorry," he answered flatly. "I just... need to do go do something." He then turned back towards the door, staring at the floor. He stood there a few moments before looking back with an unconvincing smile. "It's good to have you back, Allura." Then he walked away from them, and out the door. When he was gone everyone looked around at each other; concern crossing their faces.

XXXX

Shiro stared down at the object in his hand; he had been sitting on his bed for what seemed like days. He held the photo of him and Keith between his left thumb and forefinger loosely. His arms rested on his knees and he was hunched over it. He looked at the picture, and then at his robotic hand; clenching it into a fist. He remembered when they had first left Earth in the Blue Lion, and the journey they went on to find the rest of the lions. He remembered forming Voltron together and the battles they'd fought. He remembered the good times they'd had in the Castle, and the discoveries he had made about himself. He remembered fighting Zarkon for control of the Black Lion. And he remembered escaping for the second time, and returning to find Keith leading the team like he'd wanted. And finally, he remembered the fight he'd had with Keith, only a day or two earlier. He sighed, stood to his feet, and pinned the picture back on the wall. He left the room, and headed out into the open air. He walked until he stood at the edge of the courtyard next to the Castle of Lions; overlooking the city of Olkarion. His gaze never changed he stood their; as though he were a statue. Lost in his own thoughts, many were crossing his mind, many emotions overwhelming him.

Suddenly another robotic hand shot towards him from behind. And when it got close enough he dodged it quickly. Landing with one knee to the ground, he lit his hand to use it. But when he looked up, he was shocked to see...

"Sendak!" That single word landed sharply in his lips. A fire suddenly igniting deep within his chest; as the dust cleared to reveal the Galra Commander, standing but a short distance from him.

"Indeed it is. And I believe you have something that is of use to us." Sendak had a new robotic arm, it looked much different than the one he'd had previously,... and more powerful than it too.

"You'll get nothing from me." Shiro snapped back. His arm's glow intensifying.

"Oh I will, one way,... or another." And they plunged forward into battle. Shiro avoided Sendak's new arm if he could, but he soon found that it wasn't going to be easy. Their robotic hands clanged hard together, and Shiro was thrown back by the mere power of Sendak's. Though he was getting tired, he knew he could not give up now. Rising once more, he gathered all the strength he could to go at him again. Sendak fired shots at him, which he dodged one after the other.

"What was that?" Allura asked, hearing the blasts. And just as they got a visual, the door opened, with Keith standing in the doorway. His eyes shrunk in horror.

"Shiro!" He breathed. And without missing a beat the team scrambled from their chairs into action..

"You've got a lot of fight in you, I'll give you that. But it will cost you in the end!" Sendak snarled, after slamming Shiro to the ground once again. The Black Paladin was almost out of strength, and Sendak prepared for the final blow when...

BOOM! CRASH! BANG! The lions of Voltron burst forth. Black, Yellow, Green, Red, and White.

"What?!" Sendak spluttered. He then smiled smugly at the sight before him. "So.. there really is a White Lion." His smile not betraying him.

"There he is," Keith called, zooming in on Shiro lying on the ground near Sendak. "Pidge, Lance lay down some covering fire, I'm going in to get Shiro. Hunk, Allura, find a way to take out that ship!"

"I'm on it." Responded Lance.

"You got it!" Replied Pidge.

"Ten-four." Called Hunk.

"On it!" Allura answered. The lions sprang into action, attacking the ship and firing at Sendak and the sentries accompanying him. Shiro had forced himself up, kneeling on the ground, he tried to muster up the strength to stand. He nearly fell over when a cable was shot at him and wrapped around him. It electrocuted him and he fell unconscious to the ground. Sendak stood with his arm extended out; the cable attaching him to the unconscious Paladin. The cable in his arm acted as a stun cable; which was built into it. Two sentries grabbed Shiro and started to drag him into the ship, which was shooting the ion cannon.

"They got Shiro, somebody get down there!" Keith called, beginning to panic.

"We can't!" Allura cried. "The ion cannon has us blocked, we don't have a clear shot!" Keith watched as Shiro disappeared into the ship, which then started to take off.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! We can't let them escape!" Keith pushed the Black Lion as fast after the ship as he could, with the other lions following.

"We've got to form Voltron!" Keith decided.

"We can't," Lance pointed out. "We don't have the Blue Lion, and we don't know if the White Lion connects to Voltron." They all watched as the ship shot away and was gone.

When they landed back on the ground, and came out of their lion's, disappointment and failure had been written all over their faces. But Keith...

He brushed past everyone abruptly, clearly showing his guilt and anger.

"Keith, this is not your fault." Allura attempted to comfort him, going to place a hand on his arm.

"Shiro would have seen this coming!" Keith snapped, keeping his back to them as he brushed her hand away from him.

"Obviously not or this wouldn't have happened." Lance pointed out, his arms gently folded across his chest.

"Because he was distracted." Keith responded tensely, turning around. "If he wasn't so busy worrying about me, he would've seen this coming."

"Keith," Allura tried to talk him down,

"Ok," Lance cut her off, putting a hand between her and Keith. "It doesn't matter who's fault it is, what matters is what we do to get him back."

"What I don't understand, is why they went for Shiro to begin with." Pidge thought aloud. "I mean, why now? What does he have that they want? I mean, sure they hate him because he's a Paladin of Voltron and one of their former, escaped, prisoners and they had experimented on him and everything. But other than that, why would they attack, why here, why now?" The Green Paladin observed. Everyone thought for a moment; then Allura thought of something that sent shivers down her spine.

"It's the White Lion." She gasped with dread; eyes widening. Everyone looked at her, their gazes each showing their confusion. " It has to be… Shortly after I got the White Lion out of the secret hanger; Zarkon's witch showed up. I spied on her, until she dug up a mysterious crystal that I've never seen before. I managed to get it from her and escaped." She took out the crystal and hovered it above her hand; everyone amazed by the look of it.

"Of course," Pidge exclaimed. "And by the time Haggar returned to Zarkon's headquarters, they must have thought that we all know about the White lion and what it can do."

"Yeah, ok great, but what does this have to do with Shiro?" Lance asked still confused.

"I don't think they targeted Shiro directly." Allura guesed. "If it had been any one of us, they still probably would have attacked. He just happened to be there."

"Soo..wrong place at the wrong time,.. got it." Lance shrugged.

"Yeah. And since they think that we know _all_ about the White Lion, they must think we have information for them." Hunk thought out loud.

"Information that would help them prepare to defend against it in battle," Allura finished.

"And they think Shiro knows something about it." Keith mumbled to himself.

"Yes, and there's no telling what they'll do to him to get it," Allura remarked.

"Which means we better think of something fast, cause when he tells them he knows nothing. They'll think he's lying and continue to interrogate him." Pidge concluded.

"Paladins, gather all the rebel fighters you can find. We must strike Zarkon's central command at once." Allura said finally.

"But how do you know that's where they're taking him?" Coran asked. Allura's determined gaze met his uneasy one.

"Because that's where all the _important_ interrogations happen." Allura responded gravely, but still just as determined. The Yellow, Green, and Blue Paladins rushed off to get the coalition. And Allura turned to Keith, who was still standing at a short distance from her, staring after the others.

"Keith, contact the Blade of Marmora, we'll need all the help we can get." Keith stared at her before giving a nod and turned to go, but Allura spoke again.

"And Keith." His eyes met hers once more. "Be the leader Shiro wanted you to be." Her smile looked as though she was trying to be brave, but was still worried for Shiro. Keith nodded and headed off to the Castle. Then Allura, alone with her thoughts, lowered her gaze and closed her eyes. Praying that they'd make it to Shiro in time.

XXXX

The room was dark and blurry, the only light was a light shown only on him. Shiro felt tension and looked down to discover that he was strapped to the table, which was sitting upright. He struggled against the restraints, trying to use his arm to break the locks; but realized there was a device on it to prevent him from doing it. At that time, the door slid open, and a dark, familiar figure glided silently in.

"Welcome back... Champion." Haggar said in a soft voice, stepping into the light; lifting her chin and exposing her glowing yellow eyes as she did so.

XXXX

"Alright, what have we got?" Allura asked, standing at the teludav in the castle; looking up at a map of the Galra headquarters.

"Well, we have Matt and the rebel forces, the Blade of Marmora and Voltron." Coran reported.

"And with the help of the White Lion.." Lance added.

"We have every known alli on board." Pidge finished. Just then Matt and Kolivan entered the room.

"So it is true, has Shiro really been taken by the Galra?" Matt asked, concern ringing in his tone.

"Yes. And we'll need all the help we can get to get him back." Pidge responded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes to get Shiro back, but what about Voltron? We still need to prevent Zarkon from getting it. And with a new lion, it will surely be the target, if we attack with it." Kolivan pointed out.

"Believe me, we are very aware of the risks, Kolivan." Allura told him. "But that's exactly why we must get Shiro back. We have reason to believe that, since they know about the White Lion's existence. They may think that we know what it can do; but that is _not_ the case."

"And that means that they'll do anything to get the information they want." Matt concluded.

"Information that Shiro doesn't have." Lance confirmed.

"So what are we going to do?" Matt asked.

"Yes. What is your plan?" Kolivan wondered.

"Well," Allura began. "The Blade of Marmora is known for stealth, and Voltron and the rebels forces are better in battle. So it will go like this:

I will take the White lion ahead and draw their attention. Once they're distracted, the other lions and the rebels will attack and keep the Galra busy. Meanwhile Pidge, Keith and the Blades will infiltrate the Galra's main ship undetected. Once they're in, Kolivan will lead the others to find Shiro, free him, and get out. Pidge will be waiting with the Green Lion, and, with the help of Slav, will be cloaked to avoid blowing our cover. We don't know what kind of condition Shiro will be in when we get to him, so Coran will be standing by. The castle will be hidden on an asteroid belt not far from the Galra ship. Once we have Shiro, Pidge will escape with him back to the Castle. As soon as we know that Shiro is safe, we will all pull back and leave. Our only priority; is to get Shiro back as quickly and as safely as we can."

"But why would you bring the one thing that the Galra are after right to them? Why can't we hide the White lion and attack with everything else we have. The last time we did that we almost lost the Black Lion _and_ Shiro." Keith pointed out, beginning to get really agitated.

"Keith," Allura began sympathetically. "The reason we're not going to hide the White Lion, is because that is how we're going to get you, Pidge, and the Blades into the ship to find Shiro."

"Yeah, we're going used the White lion to get us to Shiro," Pidge added, attempting to comfort him.

"I'm just saying, why risk giving them what they want." Keith went on. "Then they'll have Shiro _and_ the White lion. And if they have it, there's no telling what they'll do next."

"I hear what you're saying, but we are aware of the risks and are willing to take them." Allura answered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Shiro's life is also at risk, so it's worth it."

They stared into each other's eyes for a second. Before turning to Kolivan and the others.

"Now, let us begin." Allura decided.

XXXX

Allura had the White Lion ready for take off. They had hidden the castle on an asteroid, and were preparing for the battle ahead.

"Everyone ready?" Allura asked, over the com.

"Actually no, the Red Lion is shutting me out." Lance answered.

"What?!" Allura exclaimed in surprise.

"I know, I don't get it either." Then he heard a roar that hadn't heard for a while..

"Lance, what are you doing?" Pidge asked.

"I think the Blue Lion is calling me back." Lance responded. "Hang on." He took off down the hall and ran into the Blue lion's hanger and looked up at it. The lion let down it's shield, stood and roared. Lance could feel the lion's connection again. "Alright then," he smiled and then headed inside. Launching the lion, he joined the other lions. Everyone was amazed to see Lance flying the Blue lion again.

"Uh, What happened in there?" Hunk asked, confused by the change.

"Apparently an old friend wanted me back." Lance replied happily.

"But what about the Red lion? It's faster and more agile than all the other lions. We might really need it in this fight." Allura pointed out, a little disappointed.

"I know, but the Blue was calling me back. I'm not sure why, but I think something's changing again." Lance answered.

"Well we can't worry about it now." Coran interrupted, then paused for dramatic effect. "It's time."

Soon the lions, rebel fighters and the Blades were on route to Zarkon's central command.

"Alright, everyone stay out of sight until I give the signal. Pidge, be ready to move in to make the drop-off." Allura reminded her.

"Copy that!" Pidge responded. Allura flew the White lion toward the large ship. Firing one shot, she got the attention of the Galra. Soon there was fleet after fleet rushing the White Lion. She pushed the lion back the way they'd come and called. "Now!"

In a moment the Yellow, and Blue lions with the rebel fighter ships appeared from their hiding places behind the cosmic objects. In no time at all the battle was fully engaged.

"Slav, activate the cloaking and keep an eye on it." Pidge instructed from the cockpit. The eight armed life form sprung into action.

"Righty-o, cloaking engaged, but I don't know for how long. You know there are many possibilities in how this will go. There's the reality where we ruin the plan by losing cloaking and being exposed. The reality where we are hit by enemy fire and get exposed. The reality where the White Lion is captured before we can get to Shiro. The reality where he is already dead, the reality where..."

"Slav!" Pidge shouted in frustration, leaning around to frown at him. Slav jumped startled by Pidge; his eyes wide with surprise.

"I was just going to say.. another reality is where everything goes according to plan."

Keith, Kolivan, and another Blade made their way into the ship.

"Pidge, we're in, stand by." Keith said over the com.

"Copy that, I'll be here." The Green Paladin responded, "bring him back safe."

"You know I will." Keith then shifted his focus to the mission. "Ok, Allura said that they're most likely holding Shiro in the main detainment room."

"We'll need to sneak through these shafts all the way up to that level." Kolivan informed them; motioning toward the shaft on their right. "This one should take us straight there. According to the schematics I looked at beforehand."

"Then that's the way we're going." Keith decided. So they pried open the shaft, and started crawling they're way up.

XXXX

Electricity shot threw Shiro's body, as he was zapped again. His cries echoed within the small room. They had been interrogating him for the last hour or so, but to Shiro, it felt like forever. His memories of his past experimentation constantly flashed across his mind; as this was reminding him of all the suffering he'd endured during that time.

"Again, where did the White Lion come from? And what power does it possess?" Haggar questioned in frustration. Shiro did not answer, which earned him another shock.

"I don't know anything about this lion, or what it can do, it has only just recently been found." Shiro told her breathlessly. "Not even-.. the one-.. who found it- knows."

"Lies!" Haggar snapped angrily. "You have to know something! Alfor would never have left such a potentially powerful weapon a complete secret!" They shocked him again, the echoes bounced off the walls of the room and into the shafts. Keith heard them immediately, he turned in the direction of the sound.

"There, I hear him. We're close! This way." Keith led the way down the shaft, til he came to the opening. He was relieved to see Shiro; but Haggar was becoming impatient. She raised a hand as if to hit him, but a ball of dark magic materialized from it instead. She blasted it at him. It hit the board right above his right shoulder.

"Tell me about the White lion!" She yelled. And seeing that Shiro was nearly passed out. She sneered, and turned briskly on her heel and walked away. Another Druid followed her out and two Galra soldiers remained to guard Shiro. The Blades opened the shaft and slipped quietly out of it, they swiftly ambushed the two soldiers taking them out easily. Keith ran to stand in front of Shiro, deactivating his mask.

"Shiro!" He breathed, putting a hand on his left shoulder.

"Keith?" Shiro gasped weakly. Then he saw that Haggar's blast had hit Shiro's shoulder. The wound being a decent size; and glowing like his previous one. Kolivan and the other blade disabled the shackles and Shiro fell down, but Keith caught him before he hit the ground. He pulled Shiro's left arm over his own shoulder and called on the com.

"Pidge, we need another way out, Shiro's in worse shape than we thought."

"Stand by, figuring one out."

"Well make it fast, before they come back."

"Got one! There's an airlock not far from you. If you can get to it, I'll meet you there for pickup." She instructed, zooming in on the schematics.

"Copy that, we're on our way."

"Ok, I'll be ready."

"Ahh, phew!" Gasped Slav with relief. "It's a good thing we're almost ready to get out of here."

"Why's that?"

"Because we don't have much cloaking power left."

"What?!"

"I am trying to keep it going, but I can only do so much."

"Guys, you better hurry, because we don't have much cloaking left. If you don't get here in the next couple of minutes, we're going to be exposed."

"Hang on. We're almost there." Keith answered. Kolivan ran ahead of them. Shiro was getting a little better, but still needed support from Keith.

The battle continued to rage and the rebels and lions were stretched thin. The White lion shot through the sky, faster than anything they'd seen before.

"Pidge, what's taking so long, we can't keep this up forever." Allura asked, dodging another attack.

"Almost there, Princess." The Green Paladin responded. "They should be here any second."

"Lance, watch your six!" Called Hunk, bashing a Galra fighter away from Blue.

"Woah, thanks Hunk." Lance returned thankfully.

On the bridge of the Galra ship Haggar came up behind Zarkon, who was watching the battle outside on the big screen.

"Sire, the prisoner claims to know nothing of the White lion and it's power. What do you want us to do with him?"

"Keep interrogating him, he may know more than he says." Zarkon replied, his gaze not leaving the battle on the screen. Then Haggar nodded and left in silence.

"We're losing the cloaking there's not enough power to keep it going any longer! We're going to be exposed!" Slav cried in a panic. And just at that moment the cloaking went down. And Galra fighters began shooting at them.

"I've got to keep them away from the opening." Pidge realized. Jerking the controls, she took off into the battle. Keith and the others turned the corner and there was the airlock.

"Pidge. We're here at the pickup point. Where are you?" Keith said.

"I'm sorry, I can't get to you, the cloaking went down. You'll have to find another way out."

"We'll have to take an escape pod, come on! This way!" Kolivan said, leading the way. Just at that moment Galra soldiers and sentries surrounded them. With their blasters ready. The soldiers backed them against the door of the airlock. And Keith saw the opportunity, he hit the button opening the airlock and sucking them all out into space.

"Shiro, your jet pack." Keith told him. Shiro activated his jet pack and they got a hold of the others and tried to get to a space rock floating by. But when they got to it, they were being shot at.

"We're pinned down on a space rock, we need back-up!" Keith called, shielding himself with his holo-shield.

In the castle, the eyes of the Red lion lit up and the lion roared and took off.

"What in the world! Uh...guys the Red lion just took off! Be on the lookout for it!" Coran called, seeing the lion on the scanners.

"Ok Coran, we'll keep an eye out for it." Allura called, avoiding the Galra blasts. Hunk flew the Yellow lion in to help Keith and the others. But the ion cannon of one of the cruisers cut him off. Shiro's grip loosened slightly on Keith, and he couldn't help but be worried by this; knowing he needed to get him out of there. A Galra cruiser prepared to fire at them, when the Red Lion burst forth and saved them. They all quickly went into the lion, Keith took his place at the controls.

"Guys, we've got Shiro, I'm heading back to the Castle, we can pull back."

"And what about the Red Lion?" Protested Allura.

"It's with me." Keith returned. "It saved us." But when the rebels and lions began to leave, the Galra followed.

"Watch out, you're being followed, you've got to lose them!" Coran called, catching on to this.

"Keith; get Shiro to the castle." Allura instructed. "The rest of us will need to hold them off long enough for Coran to bring the castle in and wormhole us out of here."

"I'm on it, hang in there." Keith answered jetting the Red Lion forward, leaving everyone else to fight the Galra. Once they reached the castle, they brought Shiro up to the bridge and set him down in his chair to inspect his wound.

"I'm fine." Shiro insisted hoarsely, his eyes half open. "Right now you need to go help your team."

"They're not just _my_ team, they're yours too." Keith reminded him tenderly.

"We still need to do something." Shiro emphasized. Suddenly there was a hit on the castle. A cruiser had managed to follow them and was blasting them with the ion cannon. Coran immediately put up the particle barrier and took off.

"Coran, what's happening?!" Shiro gasped.

"We've been found! Which means we need to get back to the others so we can wormhole out of here." Coran answered, returning fire with the castle defenses. Shiro grabbed Keith by the forearm and pulled him closer to him.

"Go." He breathed. "Go assist the rest of the team. They need you out there." Keith hesitated for a moment and again, Shiro repeated, "Go." So Keith headed back to the Red Lion and went to help the others. Kolivan and the other blade stood by Coran, discussing something that Shiro couldn't hear. But as he sat there alone, he could hear the others over the com, they were struggling. And he knew what he had to do. So he quietly got to his feet and dragged himself out the door, holding his shoulder as he went. When he was inside the Black lion, he focused as hard as he could trying to connect with the lion. Still hearing the others struggling in the battle, he gripped the handles desperately hoping it would work. Please, he thought, trust me. Then the lion began to light up, the screen flickered to life and the lion roared loudly.

"Coran, how close are you?" Allura gasped, frantically.

"Just a few ticks away, Princess." Kolivan turned around.

"Shiro?!" He said. The other two men looked up also. The lions and rebel fighters were having trouble keeping up with all the ships. Keith had just arrived with Red to help, and had easily engaged himself.

"Shiro's gone!" Coran announced over the com; his frantic tone catching everyone's attention.

"What?!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Where did he go?!" Asked Lance.

"I knew he wouldn't stay put!" Keith said, kicking himself for leaving.

"It's not your fault, Keith." Allura encouraged. "But where is Shiro now and what is he doing?"

"I'm here to give you some backup!" Shiro's voice was a little weak and groggy on the com, but also determined. He flew in with the Black Lion. And everyone couldn't believe it; Shiro had reconnected with the Black lion once again!

"What?!" Keith gasped.

"No way!" Cried Hunk.

"Awesome!" Yelled Lance, smiles stretching across their faces.

"I don't believe it! The Black lion let you back in!" Allura cried in astonishment. Then all the lions started glowing; and the Voltron lions' bayard ports came open.

"Uh, what's going on?" Hunk asked suspiciously.

"I think the lions want us to use our bayards together." Pidge observed.

"Worth a try," Shiro agreed. So the five Paladins took up their bayards and locked them in. And as a result, a form of residual energy shot from the five lions onto the White Lion; and in the bayard lock… the White Bayard appeared!

"My weapons systems are fully operational!" Allura exclaimed excitedly. Then the lion encouraged her to turn the same Altean key from before on the far left side of the controls. When she did so, it slowly sank into the lock completely; and a hologram popped up. And there was King Alfor next to her.

"Father!" She gasped in amazement.

"Allura! My daughter!" King Alfor responded. His transparent form smiling back at her.

"I don't understand, how did you make a sixth lion and not tell anyone?"

"Because it was too dangerous at the time. And I was right, but now that you have it. Use it to finish Zarkon,... once and for all!"

"I'm sorry Father, but it must wait until another time. This was only meant to be a rescue mission only. But it has turned into something much worse." The lions scattered to fight. And now that the White Lion's weapons were working she could use them. Using the bayard a cannon appeared on its back, when that happened the screen went dark on all the lions.

"Hey what happened, why is the screen so dark?!" Shouted Lance, squinting to see.

"Because of this!" Answered Allura. She fired the cannon, which shot a huge, bright beam of light blinding the Galra and blowing up their ships.

"Woah, do that again!" Cheered Lance excitedly. Allura took shot after shot. Taking down the ships one by one.

"Alright team, time to clean this mess up." Shiro called. "Let's form Voltron!" And as the lions converged into position the White lion encouraged her to converge with them.

"What? You want to go with them?"

"Go ahead." Her father encouraged. "Do it, Allura."

"What? Why?"

"I created this lion, you didn't think I wouldn't figure out how to integrate it into Voltron did you?" So Allura flew the White lion above the other lions, just above and behind Black. And when Voltron was formed, the white lion transformed into a jetpack, with two blasters on Voltron's shoulders; equipped with super powered thrusters. "This is incredible!" Shouted Allura. Her amazement not wavering even slightly.

"Huh, I guess the White lion does connect to Voltron." Hunk observed.

"Wow." breathed Keith.

"I know it's pretty cool." Shiro agreed. "Now let's use it to our advantage." So they blasted off, calling for the sword, they powered through one ship after another. They moved so fast because of the White Lion's jets that the Galra had trouble keeping up with them.

"Sir, Voltron is moving too fast, we can't get a clear shot!" Cried one of the Galra pilots.

"We'll take the shot anyway!" Thundered Sendak, angrily. They shot the cannon and moved it around, they still missed. Then a cruiser with the giant weapon in it appeared.

"Aw man, not that thing again?!" Lance huffed.

"That weapon is powerful, but with the White lion maybe they won't be able to get us again." Pidge guessed. The weapon activated and shot at them. They tried to avoid it, but the third time they got hit! They were trying to stay connected, but they simply could not. And they were again driven apart, back into lions once more. As they recovered themselves, they realized that the Black lion wasn't moving.

"Shiro?" Keith said, no answer. "Shiro! Can you hear me?! Shiro!" Everyone was calling his name, but he was silent and motionless inside the lion. They continued to call his name, with no reply. Trapped in his own mind, he saw himself back in the Galra labs; the memories flashing back to him once again. His vision was blurry, but he saw Haggar and the Druid's standing over him. They were talking about something, but he couldn't hear them. He remembered the pain of the infinite supply needles and infusions that they'd given him; and the electrocution from earlier. At that moment, he was zapped back into reality. He looked around to see he was still in the Black lion. And he could now hear the others calling his name.

"It's..ok." He finally answered breathlessly. "I'm ok."

"Oh, thank goodness," Keith sighed with relief. "Shiro what happened to you there?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to get out of here." Shiro answered trying to recover his lion, who floated upside down. "Now." The lions all began to retreat. Shiro tried to follow, but the burning, shooting pain of his wounds made it difficult to fly the lion. He winced when trying again. The lion jerked, but didn't fly straight.

"Shiro, you ok?" Keith asked, concerned by the Black Lion's awkward movements. Shiro winced again.

"I'm alright." He paused. "It's just.. my shoulder."

"Hang on, I'm comin' to help you. Just hang in there." Keith turned the Red lion around after Black. The Galra prepared to fire again, but the castle fired on them; ruining their shot. Keith grabbed Shiro and jetted after the others.

"Allura," King Alfor said. "Go ahead and try to create a wormhole."

"What? But there's no teludav in here?" Allura protested.

"Just try," her father coaxed. So she did, she closed her eyes and tried to connect with the castle's crystal. And to her surprise a wormhole appeared.

"I don't believe it!" She gasped, but then jetted forward toward it. "Paladins, we're getting out of here! Rebels, Coran, into the wormhole before it closes!" Everyone made a break for the wormhole and made it through, just as the Galra shot weapon at them.

Once they were back on Olkarion, they landed the lions and the castle. On the ground they all exited their lions. Shiro came stumbling out, he was still weak from the whole ordeal of the last couple of hours. The team ran to him urgently, with Matt and Kolivan right behind them.

"Easy Shiro." Keith said, putting Shiro's left arm over his shoulder.

"Thank you,.. for saving me." Shiro replied quietly, he looked up. "All of you."

"Anytime, Shiro." Matt smiled thoughtfully.

"We're just glad to have you back safely." Allura grinned thoughtfully. Hunk smiled, Pidge said nothing, instead she went up and gently hugged him. Shiro calmly returned one, but winced when he moved. Allura was immediately concerned. She came forward to get a closer look as Pidge stepped aside.

"This wound is just like the one you had before. It's been exposed all this time. We've got to treat it right away." So they all headed back to the Castle, with Keith and Pidge helping Shiro to walk.

Two days later, the team was gathered in the infirmary. Shiro had been in the healing pod for those two days, since they'd rescued him from the Galra. They were now anxiously waiting for him to wake up. Hoping he was going to be alright.

"Ugh! It's been two days, why isn't he coming back?" Wondered Keith, voicing his frustration.

"Sometimes healing takes longer than expected." Allura answered patiently. "He was in pretty bad shape, by the time we got him here." Suddenly the cryopod made a noise, as it finally began to open. Pidge held her breath and everyone was silent, and still.

Shiro awoke, his vision was blurry at first, but it was quickly getting clearer. He carefully stepped out of the pod. He was met by the whole team, who were relieved he was alive and well. And the rest of the day that hung out together, and talked about the battle and the experiences they'd all had. They had fun and enjoyed each other's company, until all but Shiro and Keith had gone to bed for the night. Shiro had his white tank top on and Keith was inspecting the scars from the wound left by Haggar.

"She got you good," Keith commented sarcastically.

"I know," chuckled Shiro. "She's dangerous, but she works with Zarkon so, I guess, that's to be expected." But his smile was short-lived.

"You could've been killed the other day,..." Keith told him. "You know that right?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm just lucky." He closed his eyes in despair. "I mean time and time again, I end up fighting someone and barely escaping with my life... and body intact." He looked at his robotic hand.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of that." Keith reassured him sitting down beside him. "You should be happy you do get out alive. Some don't."

"You might be right." Shiro closed his eyes again. The two men were quiet for a moment, but Keith finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this." Shiro looked up at him in surprise.

"What are you talking about?"

"It was my fault you got ambushed by Sendak."

"What do you mean?" Shiro clearly looked as though he didn't believe him. Keith stood and continued.

"When you returned from escaping the Galra again, I was hoping everything would just go back to normal." The Red Paladin explained. "Lance would get the Blue Lion back, I would go back to Red, and you would go back to being the Black Lion's Paladin. And when that didn't happen, I was upset."

"But what does that have to do with you blaming yourself for what happened?" Shiro was still confused.

"Because when I continued to be a _'leader'_ I was always doing something wrong. And it felt wrong." Keith was starting to get upset by now. "I mean, do you know how much it killed me to see you having to stay in the castle, watching the rest of us go on all the missions. Every time we went on a mission, it felt wrong for me to fly the Black lion and form Voltron and call the shots instead of you. You were born to lead, that's why the Garrison put you on the Kerberos mission. So it drove me crazy seeing you sidelined."

"I understand why you feel this way, but things aren't always going to go back to the way they used to be." Shiro stated. "It's not that simple, even though that's what we want."

"I know, but Shiro, you've led me and supported me in more ways than one. You've given me good advice that I never would have had otherwise. Your job has always been to lead and when you came back, I took that away from you. Being the decisive head is what comes naturally for you. And I know you won't admit it, but you've been feeling useless because of it. Sure you make the plans and other decisions, but to actually lead the team in executing it is the biggest part of being the leader. And when we got into that fight the other day,.. before you were taken... I said some things I shouldn't have. And I regretted that especially after you were taken."

"But you made a plan to rescue me. And it all worked out."

"Except for it wasn't my plan," Keith sighed in disappointment. "It was Allura's. I was afraid it'd be too dangerous to bring Voltron and especially the White lion right to Zarkon. I only did it because everyone else was agreeing on it."

"I'm still not seeing the point to all this."

"The point is that, since we fought that day you've been distracted. And you were distracted because of me. And if you weren't so distracted by what had happened during our fight, you would have seen that ambush coming. You wouldn't have gotten captured, if you'd had a clear head." Keith hung his head in despair, but Shiro put his hands on his shoulders.

"Keith, I don't think I've had a clear head; since I was taken by the Galra from Kerberos." Keith's eyes widened and he looked up into the older man's eyes. Shiro's arms dropped to his sides and he heaved a deep sigh.

"Keith, when I was imprisoned by the Galra for a year, everything changed for me." He explained simply. "The experiments they did, the battles I was forced to fight, them taking my arm. I haven't had a completely sound mind since then. I still relive those moments every so often, and we all know I suffer from random amnesia at times..." Shiro turned to stare off into nothingness, then turned to face Keith once again. "I'm not the same person I was, when l left for Kerberos." They stared at each other for a moment, neither one speaking. Keith sat down, resting his elbows on his knees, lost in thought.

"I didn't know that." He said quietly.

"But you're right." Shiro admitted, Keith looked up again. "I was worried about you..." Keith's eyebrows furrowed up at him, and Shiro continued. "When I returned from the Galra, I watched you being the leader, and I saw a very different side of you. And when we had that fight I was even more concerned, I was going to say something but it seemed as though you were avoiding me. So I couldn't seem to get you alone." Keith stared at the ground sheepishly.

"I know, I'm sorry." Keith said, as Shiro sat down beside him.

"Don't be, let's just put it behind us." Shiro stood up again. "Things have changed,.. but for the better this time. We're all back to the way we were;.. somehow. Let's just enjoy being together, while we still can. I fear that the war is about to take an unexpected turn. And only time will tell how that will play out for us."

"Yeah, ok." Shiro smiled tenderly down at him.

"Now, we should go get some rest." The Black Paladin decided. "We still have planning to do to stop Zarkon,.. and Lotor." Shiro smiled warmly, and Keith smiled in agreement. Then the two walked out of the lounge with a hand on each other's shoulder.

~Call of the White Lion~

 **Hey fanfic fans, what up! So this story was my very first one. And I wrote it just before "White Lion" was released in season five. I didn't really like the lion switch after Shiro "disappeared" in season three. And this one also does not regard the clone situation. This is the real Shiro. And the white lion concept was a thing I was extremely excited for! Though it didn't go the way I would have wanted, it was still really cool! But there has always been speculation of a sixth lion. This story was just one idea I came up with. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And as always leave your thoughts about the White Lion in the comments. Thx!**

 ** _XXXX_**

 **Hey guys, as it says above this was my first fanfic ever!! But only recently I have decided to go through and edit all of my stories starting with this one. Hope you guys enjoy this new and improved version, and I assure you not major plot points were changed. This was mostly just for polishing up and re-adjusment purposes. Anyway enjoy! Thx!!!**


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